In the production of cabinet doors, such products typically have been initially machined from sheets of material into various sizes and shapes, and then finished by applying a paint or lacquer utilizing a spray system to provide a particular color or design. An improved finishing method has consisted of applying a thin, compliant thermoplastic film over such doors which has a number of advantages over traditional spray finishing methods including the elimination of change-over processes, the ability to produce different appearances and a reduction of hazardous materials. Such method is known in the industry as thermofoiling.
In the use of such method in the production of cabinet doors, the doors are first formed from a sheet of medium density fiberboard (MDF) material on a CNC router, and then removed and transferred to a second machine commonly known as a thermo-foil vacuum press which applies a thin finishing film on the machined doors. Because of the considerable investment cost of such machines, the operating cost of such machines and the manual time and effort required in the handling and transfer of such workpieces and operating such machines, such arrangement and method has been found to be economically suitable with respect to long runs of large quantities of items but unsuitable with respect to short runs of small quantities of items.
Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide an assembly and method to economically form and apply a film of material on either a large or small number of workpieces, on a single assembly, in a short span of time, utilizing a minimum amount of manual labor.